2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[ispano6]

Regarding how many upgrades they can bring in a season.

​Any further deficit above 4% does not grant additional upgrade slots beyond those 2. Instead, larger performance deficits scale the financial cost cap relief and dyno test bench hours:

2% to 4%: 1 upgrade | 3M +70 dyno hours
​4% to 6% deficit: 2 upgrades | Up to $4.65M cost cap allowance + 110 dyno hours
​6% to 8% deficit: 2 upgrades | Up to $6.35M cost cap allowance +150
​8% to 10% deficit: 2 upgrades | Up to $8.0M cost cap allowance + 190 extra dyno hours
​>10% deficit: 2 upgrades | Up to $11.0M cost cap allowance + 230 extra dyno hours
​The only way a manufacturer could theoretically execute more than 2 in-season upgrades in a single year is if they carried over unused ADUO upgrade slots granted from a previous season and stacked them with a new grant.

So the motivation to be considered weak are increases in your cost cap and only 8% and slower gives you "extra" dyno hours"?

[diffuser]

There is no vibration ( imbalance or disturbancd from moving parts) accorsing to Honda. The problems was combustion "oscillations" caused by temperature. that were tuned out later in the session.

I'm not 100% what Ohihara means by this but is likely he means a sort of detonation wave or some slight exhaust backpressure or intake pressue wave causing reverberations??

Anyway they solved it and it's a moot point now because the new engine will have all new combustion chamber design.

It sounds like you are referring to the vibration issues in FP1 with the old engine. There were no vibration issues during the test with the new one.

The fix is only in the ICE they tested on Wednesday July 29th (new combustion chamber, etc). The ICE they used in FP3 and later only had whatever work arond they had came up with. Maybe the vibrations get worse with wear?

[ispano6]

Vibrations and oscillations are different according to Orihara. Vibration is due to mechanical / structural frequencies. Oscillations are due to knock and ignition timing. FP1 exposed a condition that their knock limit maps hadn't accounted for and they had to adjust thermal management parameters to address it.

The redesigned internals is meant to address the immature combustion and knock issues.

[SSJ4]

Vibrations and oscillations are different according to Orihara. Vibration is due to mechanical / structural frequencies. Oscillations are due to knock and ignition timing. FP1 exposed a condition that their knock limit maps hadn't accounted for and they had to adjust thermal management parameters to address it.

The redesigned internals is meant to address the immature combustion and knock issues.

Were the vibrations in FP1 not down to an engine on a lot of mileage. Alonso said that and they put in a ‘fresh’engine for Saturday

[ispano6]

Were the vibrations in FP1 not down to an engine on a lot of mileage. Alonso said that and they put in a ‘fresh’engine for Saturday

It wasn't the root cause, since Lance had the same oscillations in FP1 and didn't require a PU change. Maybe Alonso's FP2 run caused more wear from the oscillations and justified an engine change for FP3. It very well could have been end of life after FP2. I don't know if it was that they had another PU still in the pool available or used a new one though. I'm thinking it was an already used fresher unit if that is still allowed to be fitted.

[diffuser]

Were the vibrations in FP1 not down to an engine on a lot of mileage. Alonso said that and they put in a ‘fresh’engine for Saturday

It wasn't the root cause, since Lance had the same oscillations in FP1 and didn't require a PU change. Maybe Alonso's FP2 run caused more wear from the oscillations and justified an engine change for FP3. It very well could have been end of life after FP2. I don't know if it was that they had another PU still in the pool available or used a new one though. I'm thinking it was an already used fresher unit if that is still allowed to be fitted.

At the beginning of the season, teams use the same ICE from FP1 through to the race. Once they introduce a second ICE, it is normally brought in for FP3 and then kept in the car for qualifying and the race. They continue to use the older power unit for FP1 and FP2, which helps limit the kilometer-age on the new ICE.

Sometimes an ICE will fail during FP1 or FP2 simply because it has accumulated so much kilometer-age. This is just a general rule, though, because depending on the kilometer-age and condition, an older ICE might still be used at low power-demand circuits like Monaco.

When a third ICE is introduced, the rotation becomes even more complicated. The main point is that using a different ICE for FP3 than for FP1 and FP2 is pretty common.

[zoroastar]

i cant tell if this is a real guy or some AI generated robot

[sn809]

I think the video points out an important structure which is going to be the 2nd gearbox that AMR have ever built.

If its bad, the engine will do FA. I am just shocked they didnt bring it to the Filming day.

[Thunder18]

Some of these "yt video experts" talk a lot of talk to further their own views, it says nothing that we didn't know already and clearly states at the end that we'll know more after Zanvoort... Can I get those minutes of my life back

[Otromundo]

There’s too much information, and on top of that, AI is wreaking havoc—you can't trust anyone.

Unfortunately, sometimes you have no choice but to take an interest in what people say.

I’ve been looking for pictures of Fernando during the filming day. Mainly his facial expressions. After spending quite a bit of time on it, I gave up. I decided that the most reliable source of information would be seeing his face, but I haven’t been able to verify that.

I’m a bit worried about the gearbox because from the start I included it in the 'possible sources of problems' section.

Starting Monday, I’ll be going on vacation to draw and paint in peace. The truth will be revealed in Zandvoort. I hope it will be pleasant and the start of something big.

[draghixa]

There’s too much information, and on top of that, AI is wreaking havoc—you can't trust anyone.

Unfortunately, sometimes you have no choice but to take an interest in what people say.

I’ve been looking for pictures of Fernando during the filming day. Mainly his facial expressions. After spending quite a bit of time on it, I gave up. I decided that the most reliable source of information would be seeing his face, but I haven’t been able to verify that.

I’m a bit worried about the gearbox because from the start I included it in the 'possible sources of problems' section.

Starting Monday, I’ll be going on vacation to draw and paint in peace. The truth will be revealed in Zandvoort. I hope it will be pleasant and the start of something big.

Wasn't it Jak Crawford driving in filming day? I don't think Alonso was even there.

[F1RAM]

Stroll was there no! in the video AMR put out

[diffuser]

There’s too much information, and on top of that, AI is wreaking havoc—you can't trust anyone.

Unfortunately, sometimes you have no choice but to take an interest in what people say.

I’ve been looking for pictures of Fernando during the filming day. Mainly his facial expressions. After spending quite a bit of time on it, I gave up. I decided that the most reliable source of information would be seeing his face, but I haven’t been able to verify that.

I’m a bit worried about the gearbox because from the start I included it in the 'possible sources of problems' section.

Starting Monday, I’ll be going on vacation to draw and paint in peace. The truth will be revealed in Zandvoort. I hope it will be pleasant and the start of something big.

Agreed

[diffuser]

I think the video points out an important structure which is going to be the 2nd gearbox that AMR have ever built.

If its bad, the engine will do FA. I am just shocked they didnt bring it to the Filming day.

Not knowing any real data about what's changing, you know it was a mistake. Yet AMR F1 who have àll this data and choose not to bring the gearbox are wrong. Hmm, how about that. Or maybe the "gearbox" issues have been overblow and really those issues were drivability issues caused by software and the Combustion issue?

[ispano6]

There is always room for improvement, even ourselves. There will be a second gearbox eventually and likely different ratios to consider for next season. There have been sync issues in low speed corners. The clutch also having had issues that caused Lance to DNF would probably be part of an improved design. They probably have figured they just need to make do with what they have and can adjust torque loads of the MGUK to smoothen out the operation. So in effect Honda's PU engineers are accommodating some of the inherent issues.

In doing so, Honda likely ended up not being able to use their desired maps and have to use harvested energy for torque smoothing instead of outright power delivery. Torque smoothing during downshifts requires the MGUK to be used instead of harvesting efficiently. I believe this causes over-heating of the hybrid system particularly the battery and CE. These components have been swapped often for AMR26.
The penalty is the appearance that the Honda PU is incapable of harvesting since it derates early on the straight compared to others. The truth is they aren't able to run the PU optimally regardless of their weak combustion energy. And Alonso did mention Honda accommodated the weaknesses of the AMR side.

Quote from Alonso from theRace:

"The biggest problem for me was the gearbox," he said. "It was impossible to drive. I lost sync in every braking point, I had no acceleration out of the corners, and the downshifts were all over the place, very random.

“Sometimes I had push, sometimes I had rear locking. That was a bad surprise."

There was more of the same on Sunday. And with Canada next on the calendar, Alonso's made it clear this is something Aston Martin - which has developed its own gearbox for the first time since 2008 - must improve.

"It was more the gearbox the whole weekend than the engine," he said.